Peace Portal Terms of Use

The Global Partnership for the Prevention of Armed Conflict (GPPAC) offers you access and usage of this website (www.peaceportal.org) free of charge. Any usage of the website is subject to the terms of use below. Your use of the website constitutes acceptance of these terms. If you have any questions, please contact GPPAC at the e-mail address info@peaceportal.org

These Terms of Use were last updated on June 1, 2013.

Article 1. Website content

1.1 On the website, GPPAC publishes texts, images and other contents that originate with GPPAC and third parties. You may read, download and print these contents for your own personal or business use.

1.2 Copying, distribution and any other use of these contents is prohibited without prior written permission of GPPAC, except and to the extent permitted by mandatory provisions of law or unless indicated otherwise by a specific license statement on or associated with the content in question.

1.3 The contents are offered AS-IS without warranty of any kind, including but not limited to warranties of accuracy, merchantability or fitness for any particular purpose.

1.4 GPPAC may change the published contents at any time without prior notice.

1.5 Using automated processes, spiders or other software tools to request all or a substantial part of the website within a short period of time is prohibited because doing so negatively affects the performance of the website for others.

Article 2. Registration on the website

2.1 To publish a text, image or other content on the website you must first create a personal account. GPPAC is entitled to refuse your account without motivation.

2.2 You must provide a working e-mail address during this application process. This personal information is subject to the privacy clause 5 below.

2.3 Once your account is created, GPPAC will provide you access to the account with your email and password. It is your responsibility to keep the password private from others. GPPAC is not responsible for any misuse of the password and may assume that anything that occurs using your username is under your supervision and risk.

2.4 If you suspect that a third party has gained access to your password or account, you must inform GPPAC as soon as possible so GPPAC can take appropriate steps to prevent or stop abuse.

2.5 GPPAC will strive to provide you with reasonable support in your usage of the website but cannot make any guarantees about accuracy or completeness of any information provided.

2.6 You may use at most one account at any time. If multiple accounts are logged in from the same IP-address at the same time, or if GPPAC has a reasonable suspicion that you have multiple active accounts, GPPAC can temporarily suspend some or all of these accounts until you can provide proof that you are not operating these multiple accounts.

Article 3. Publications on the website

3.1 On the website you can publish contents such as forum discussions, Wiki texts, blog posts, reviews and pictures. You are free to decide which materials you want to publish and when (subject to the rules below). However you are not entitled to any compensation for any publication on the website.

3.2 You represent that your publications are accurate to the best of your knowledge. You will not intentionally add false information, or change or remove existing information without good reason.

3.3 Publications may not:

contain malicious content such as spyware or viruses or hyperlinks to external websites that provide such malicious content;

contain commercial content such as advertisements or promotional messages regarding your or other peoples' businesses;

create the false impression that you are working for GPPAC or otherwise are authorized to speak on behalf of GPPAC;

infringe on third party copyrights, trademarks or similar rights, for example by containing inline links to externally hosted images without express permission of the copyright holder;

violate the privacy of other members, GPPAC employees or third parties;

create disproportionate stress or load on the servers used for the website.

3.4 GPPAC may set additional or different rules for specific section of the website. These rules will be prominently announced at the sections in question. Should these rules conflict with or contradict these terms of service, then these rules shall prevail over these terms of service. These rules are subject to change at any time.

3.5 GPPAC may block, adapt or remove any publication by you if GPPAC, at its sole discretion, determines that such publication is likely to be unlawful or in violation of these terms of use. GPPAC does not need to consult or inform you in such a case. GPPAC is not liable for any damages you may suffer as a result of its actions under this article.

3.6 You agree to fully indemnify GPPAC for any third-party claims alleging that your publications on the website violate their rights or otherwise are unlawful.

3.7 GPPAC has no obligation whatsoever to screen or moderate any publication by you or others. GPPAC strives to promptly respond to any bona fide claim that any publication violates any of these terms of service.

Article 4. License to GPPAC

4.1 By publishing contents on the website, you represent and warrant that you fully own all rights to these contents and that you are permitted to grant the license requested below without any obligations or restrictions on the part of GPPAC.

4.2 In case you publish materials to which third parties hold the copyright, you represent and warrant that you have the right to sublicense these materials under the license requested below or that the copyright holder licenses these materials under the license requested below to GPPAC and others that obtain these materials through the website.

4.3 You hereby grant GPPAC and other recipients of the above contents a license under the Creative Commons-Attribution-ShareAlike Unported license version 3.0 as published by the Creative Commons at http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/. This license grant is perpetual and irrevocable.

4.4 You authorize GPPAC to take legal action against third parties in case of publication of your materials in the form in which they have been published on the website.

Article 5. Processing of personal data

5.1 GPPAC respects the privacy of all users of the website and has taken steps to ensure that personal data is handled properly and with respect for your privacy. GPPAC will not provide personal data to third parties unless indicated otherwise in these terms of use. You hereby grant GPPAC permission to use your personal data for any purpose within the framework of these terms of use.

5.2 You can withdraw your permission at any time. Your username and account will be deleted and your personal data will be removed from GPPAC's files, unless continued use is necessary for GPPAC's business purposes or is required by law. GPPAC does not have to remove any publications on the website, unless you can demonstrate a serious reason to the contrary. GPPAC will anonymize any of your publications upon request.

5.3 You have a right to inspect and correct your personal data. In most cases, you are able to do so yourself using your profile page. If you are having trouble using this feature or if you need other information changed, please contact GPPAC using the address above.

5.4 GPPAC shall not read or grant others access to private messages you send to or receive from other users of the website, unless (a) you explicitly authorize GPPAC to do so, (b) reading the message(s) is absolutely necessary to ensure continued proper functioning of the website, (c) GPPAC has a strong suspicion that the messages relate to criminal activities or preparation thereof, or (d) GPPAC is ordered to do so by the competent authorities. In case (b) the GPPAC persons involved shall maintain strict secrecy regarding the messages they read.

5.5 GPPAC records general data about visitors, among other reasons to prevent abuse of the website. This data includes the IP-address of the computers that access the website, the time of such access and any data provided by a web browser.

5.6 GPPAC uses cookies on the website. Cookies are small text files that your web browser leaves on your hard drive to recognize you as a repeat user of our website. Cookies are also used with Google Analytics to obtain anonymous information about the visits on the website. These cookies are used to store information, such as what time your current visit occurred, whether you have been to the site before, and what site referred you to the web page. These cookies contain no personally identifiable information but they will use your computer's IP address to know from where in the world you are accessing the Internet. Google stores the information collected by these cookies on servers in the United States. Google may transfer this information to third-parties where required to do so by law, or where such third-parties process the information on Google's behalf.

By browsing and by creating an account on this website, you implicitly agree on our usage of cookies, as reported above.

5.7 During registration you are asked to provide certain personal data, such as your real name and a working e-mail address. This data will not be provided to third parties unless you have explicitly granted permission to do so, or such provision is necessary to provide services to you or is required by law. You are allowed to use an alias (screen name) in your participation on the website. If you choose to use your real name in your participation on the website, you do so at your own risk. GPPAC will do its best to avoid that personal data is indexed and copied by search engines and other third parties and published elsewhere.

5.8 GPPAC has the right to send communications to the e-mail address or other contact addresses you provided. You agree to receive announcements about GPPAC, the website (Peace Portal) or any new or adapted services thereon. For other types of communications an opt-out mechanism will be provided. You can opt-out without deleting your account on the website.

5.9 From time to time GPPAC may adapt the services, add new services to the website, or develop new services that use information published on the website. If such new services require use of your personal data, GPPAC will timely inform you of these new services and the personal data involved. Furthermore, GPPAC will for each new service provide you with an explicit opt-out mechanism that you can invoke at any time to ensure your personal data will not be used in the new service in question.

Article 6. Maintenance

6.1 GPPAC may temporarily disable access to the website or parts of it for the purposes of maintenance or upgrades to the website and related systems. GPPAC will strive to schedule such maintenance or upgrades during times when average usage of the website is low and will announce such maintenance or upgrades in advance if possible. However GPPAC cannot be held liable for any damages that may result from your inability to use the website during maintenance or upgrades.

6.2 GPPAC may adapt the website and associated software to correct errors and to improve the functionality. If any adaptation will result in significant changes in functionality, GPPAC will strive to inform you in advance about such changes. While GPPAC listens to your feedback, GPPAC is unable to refrain from adopting any particular change just for you.

6.3 In case of force majeure, which includes but is not limited to communications or power failure, (distributed) denial of service attacks, riot, insurrection, labor disputes, accident, action of government, restrictions on import and/or export or any inability to perform which is caused by GPPAC's suppliers, GPPAC is entitled to suspend its obligations under these terms of use or to terminate this agreement in its entirety, without any obligation to compensate you for any damages you may suffer as a result.

Article 7. Liability

7.1 GPPAC is not liable for any indirect damages, including consequential damages, loss of income or profits, loss of data or special damages suffered by you or others.

7.2 Any liability for GPPAC concerning direct damages suffered by you, regardless of cause, shall be limited to 10 dollars (excluding VAT) per event or series of related events. This limitation does not apply in case of intent or recklessness on the part of GPPAC.

7.3 You indemnify GPPAC for any claims by any third party regarding damages, costs or interest in connection with this agreement.

7.4 You waive any right to sue GPPAC for any damages suffered as a consequence of a publication by you, GPPAC or others on the website that is in violation of these terms of service.

7.5 Your right to compensation of any direct damages is subject to your contacting GPPAC as soon as possible after your discovery of the damages with a sufficiently detailed complaint, allowing GPPAC to take all necessary actions.

Article 8. Duration and termination

8.1 These terms of use are entered for an indefinite period of time. Both you and GPPAC may terminate this agreement at any time, without having to provide prior notice. After termination by either party, you may no longer use the website.

8.2 Articles 4 and 7 shall survive termination of this agreement for as long as GPPAC reasonably can claim rights under these articles.

8.3 GPPAC is entitled to suspend its obligations towards you in case of a reasonable suspicion that you act in any way that is in violation of these terms, without any right of compensation for you.

Article 9. Adaptation of these terms

9.1 GPPAC has the right to adapt these terms or to provide additional terms at any time. Such adapted or additional terms shall enter into force 30 days after publication thereof on the website. Minor adaptations shall enter into force upon publication.

9.2 If you do not want to accept an adapted or additional term, you must terminate this agreement within these 30 days. By using the website after these 30 days, you indicate your acceptance of these new terms.

9.3 Any terms, conditions or exceptions provided by you are binding upon GPPAC only if explicitly agreed upon in writing.

9.4 GPPAC is entitled to transfer this agreement and any of its rights and obligations to any third party in case of a sale or other transfer of the website.

Article 10. Miscellanea

10.1 The laws of the Kingdom of the Netherlands apply to this agreement.

10.2 Unless prescribed otherwise by mandatory provisions of law, all conflicts arising out of this agreement shall be brought before the competent Dutch court of The Hague, Netherlands, the principal place of business of GPPAC.

10.3 In case any part of this agreement is held to be invalid, void or unenforceable for any reason, such invalidity shall not affect the rest of this agreement. The parties shall in such a case determine (a) replacement provision(s) that most closely approximates the clause concerned and which is legal under applicable law.

10.4 Any requirement for a "written" statement can be fulfilled by using e-mail, provided the identity and integrity of such e-mail can be determined with sufficient certainty.

10.5 If you send any message to GPPAC, the version of such message stored by GPPAC shall be regarded as authentic unless you can prove otherwise.

10.6 You agree to keep your contact information up-to-date to enable GPPAC to contact you at any time.

The Peace Portal is an open platform for peace practitioners and has been founded by the GPPAC Foundation. The views and opinions expressed on the Peace Portal are that of users and do not reflect the policies or positions of GPPAC.